SESAC


SESAC, originally the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, is a performance-rights organization in the United States. Since the organization stopped using its full name in 1940, it is now known exclusively as SESAC. SESAC was founded in 1930, making it the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, SESAC deals with all aspects of the business, from creation to licensing and administration. The company also has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Munich and London. SESAC has 30,000 songwriters and over 400,000 compositions in its catalogue.
SESAC touts its small size:
Whereas ASCAP and BMI operate on a not-for-profit basis, SESAC retains some income as profit. While ASCAP and BMI distribute all income from performance royalties to their composer and publisher affiliates, SESAC retains an undisclosed amount of performance royalty income. Unlike ASCAP and BMI, SESAC does not offer open membership – one must be approved to join.

History

The Society of European Stage Authors and Composers was founded by Paul Heinecke, a German immigrant, in New York in 1930. SESAC originally strove to support underrepresented European stage authors and composers with their American performance royalties, hence the original name. Heinecke led the firm until his death in 1972.
In the 1930s SESAC helped broadcasters satisfy Federal Communications Commission requirements, supplying them with gospel recordings. The business evolved beyond gospel recordings and European composers during the 1940s, and in the 1950s SESAC established its electrical transcription service. On a monthly basis, SESAC recorded "transcriptions" of its affiliates and distributed them, on disc, to radio stations across America. Among its transcribed artists were jazz and country performers: Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Coleman Hawkins, Chico Hamilton, Jackie Wilson, Chet Atkins, and Hank Garland.
As its original objective diminished in the 1960s, the company entered other musical genres. Since then, the company has represented a wider range of writers and genres. SESAC's affiliates roster includes Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Robert Johnson, Bryan-Michael Cox, Nate "Danja" Hills, Rush, Coheed & Cambria, Young Love, The Faint, Rapture, Mariah Carey and Adele.
The company moved into new headquarters in Columbus Circle in Midtown Manhattan and opened an office in Nashville, Tennessee in 1964. Six years later, the company began representing songwriters in addition to its traditional business of representing publishers. With a focus on Christian songwriters, the company was an early player in the Contemporary Christian music format. That evolution led the company to move its headquarters to Nashville in 1985.
In 1993, the company was purchased by Stephen Swid, Freddie Gershon, and Ira Smith. The new owners shifted the company's focus toward more mainstream music, and later television.
In 2013, Rizvi Traverse Management acquired a majority stake in SESAC.
In 2015, SESAC acquired the mechanical rights clearinghouse Harry Fox Agency.
In 2017, The Blackstone Group acquired SESAC.